Frederick Douglass Learning to Read and Write Rhetorical

Frederick Douglass “Learning to Read and Write” Rhetorical Précis Breakdown

Purpose of a Rhetorical Précis • A rhetorical précis demonstrates your understanding of a reading. • The task of the writer is to find just the right words and descriptions within a given structure to demonstrate his/her understanding of the passage. • An Effective Précis: – Is structured – Is accurate – Demonstrates sophisticated language

Content of Your Précis Here are the Detractors (Score Reducers): • Generalizations and cliché’s – Evident in all sentences • Over-simplifying what is complex • Misspelling the author’s name – There’s no excuse • Referring to the author’s first name – You are not that close to the author • Cheerleading • Overly optimistic – Don’t always see the brighter side of things. You are given a specific task to do.

Nothing will detract more from your ideas than errors in: • • GRAMMAR SPELLING SENTENCE STRUCTURE PHRASING

Sentence by sentence, what was effective and ineffective? • With sentence one, most students identified the author and passage well. • With sentence two, almost all students traced Douglass’s support in chronological order. • With sentence three, successful students used the sentence frame effectively, while the less successful used the frame incorrectly or missed the point of this sentence. • With sentence four, many students focused on tone and audience.

A Note About Describing TONE • • Informative Argumentative Analytical Descriptive These are modes, methods, and ways of writing, not tones. Tone – the author’s attitude toward a subject

A Note About Audience • Why would ex-slaves not be the audience for Douglass’s work?

Frederick Douglass “Learning to Read and Write” Multiple Choice Quiz

Test-Taking Strategies • Write in the margins – Write quick notes to record the main idea of each paragraph – Connect – What do all the paragraphs have in common? You now know the main idea of the entire passage. • Read questions. • Label each question as a Main Idea (you have to know the main idea to answer these questions) or Detail (asks about the meaning of specific words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs) question • Use the process of elimination to narrow your choices (0 - 20%, 1 - 25%, 2 - 33%, 3 - 50%)

Rhetorical Précis Where do we go from here?

What did you communicate about your analytical skills? • If you scored a 14 or higher – Structure (that clause, in order to) – Accurate (enough) analysis of author’s content and style • If you scored below 14 – Did not stick to structure – Ineffective sentence two • Not specific when describing author’s support • Misread of Douglass’s message • Incorrectly identified tone

The Plan Moving Forward • Those whose scored a 14 or higher – Continue to use insight to critically think about the reading – Work on identifying the specific rhetorical strategy (appeal, device, figurative language, syntax) used in each piece of support – Integrate that into sentence two • Those whose scored below 14 – Have to do everything on the left, and – Succumb to the structure – Determine the main idea of the passage, accurately – Fix your spelling, grammar, sentence structure, phrasing – Stop speaking generally (clichés) and use specific details from the passage to explain

AP Language Success • Determining your success in this class, ask yourself – Can I read effectively? – Can I communicate my message effectively? – How insightful am I? – How well do I complete assignments? With care? Last minute? – How often do I read? How often do I look up the definitions of words I do not know?

Next Quiz • Thursday, March 5, 2014 • New passage • Multiple choice questions and rhetorical précis